Artifact may be from long-lost pagoda, tallest ever built

Scholars believe they have unearthed a fragment from what might have been the tallest pagoda ever built in Japan.

The Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute showed off the artifact, part of a "sorin" decorative fixture that is placed atop a pagoda, on July 8.

In this case, it would have been the tip of a pagoda called "Kitayama Daito" that was constructed within the grounds of the famed Kinkakuji temple in the city's Kita Ward at the order of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408), the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate.

However, in 1416, shortly before it was completed, the pagoda burned to the ground after lightning struck. Other than speculation it was modeled after a seven-tiered pagoda at another temple, little is known.

This is the first such fragment to be uncovered, and researchers said it sheds light on what the structure looked like.

Excavation work was carried out between April and July 2015 in line with the rebuilding of retail shops on the west side of the Kinkakuji parking lot. That led to the discovery of the artifact from a trench built during the Muromachi Period (1338-1573).

Three fragments that appeared to have broken off from a circular object were among the items found.

The largest piece measures 24.6 centimeters by 37.4 cm and is 1.5 cm thick. It weighs 8.2 kilograms.

It is made of copper with gold plating.

Using the fragment to reconstruct the sorin that was placed on top of the pagoda led scholars to speculate the sorin had a diameter of 2.4 meters, meaning that it was likely from a huge structure. That pointed to the likelihood of it having come from the Kitayama Daito.

According to Yoshiyuki Tomishima, an associate professor of architectural history at Kyoto University, the sorin atop Toji temple also in Kyoto had a maximum diameter of 1.6 meters. At 56 meters high, the five-tiered Toji pagoda is the tallest existing wooden pagoda in Japan.

In 1399, construction of a seven-tiered pagoda on the east side of Shokokuji temple in Kyoto's Kamigyo Ward was completed following an order from Yoshimitsu. According to historical records, that pagoda had a height of about 110 meters, but it also burned to the ground after being struck by lightning.

Construction of the large pagoda at Kitayama began in 1404.

After the Kitayama Daito was destroyed, another effort was made to reconstruct a seven-tiered pagoda at Shokokuji, but in 1470 it too was destroyed by lightning.

Yoshiaki Maeda, the deputy director of the Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute, said, "The Kitayama Daito was believed to have been a huge pagoda equal to the seven-tiered pagoda at Shokokuji. It was twice as tall as the five-tiered pagoda at Toji and there is the possibility it was the tallest Buddhist pagoda ever built in Japan."
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Reference:

Kubo, Tomoyoshi. 2016. “Artifact may be from long-lost pagoda, tallest ever built”. Asahi Shimbun. Posted: July 9, 2016. Available online: http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607090039.html

Remnants of 5th-century building where foreigners may have met found in Nara

Large remnants of an ancient structure that may have served as a meeting place for foreigners more than 1,500 years ago have been excavated here, the town board of education announced July 30.

The remains are of an “o-kabe” (large wall) structure from the late fifth century, which was built using a construction method introduced from the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

An archaeologist said the building could have served as a meeting spot for migrants from the Korean Peninsula and China. “I believe the structure served as part of a settlement of foreigners, who settled in Japan and introduced document administration and foreign policy,” said Kanekatsu Inokuma, professor emeritus of archaeology at Kyoto Tachibana University.

While remnants of o-kabe structures have been found in many locations in Nara and Shiga prefectures, the latest find, located in the Mori Ochi Osa Remains in Takatori, is one of the largest in Japan, with each side measuring 13.5 meters. Poles 20 centimeters in diameter were built in a 50-cm-wide and 35-cm-deep ditch at 50-cm intervals, where the walls were built from the poles covered in mud and painted, the officials said.

Also found under the floor were an apparent fire port and smoke pipe of an "ondol," a Korean method of floor heating. The site of the latest discovery is believed to have been a settlement of the Yamato no Ayauji clan, a group of immigrants from the Korean Peninsula.

The remnants of about 40 o-kabe structures have been confirmed in Takatori alone. “Nihon Shoki” (The Chronicles of Japan), compiled in 720, describes two migrant officials serving Emperor Yuryaku in the late fifth century, Musano Suguri Ao and Hinokuma no Tami no Tsukai Hakatoko. The pair went to Wu in ancient China and brought back intellectuals with them.

Such people might have intermingled in the meeting center of the foreigners' town, Inokuma said.
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Reference:

Tsukamoto, Kazuto. 2015. “Remnants of 5th-century building where foreigners may have met found in Nara”. The Asahi Shimbun. Posted: August 1, 2015. Available online: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201508010019

Newly-discovered remains redraw path of Great Wall

Archaeologists have discovered ruins of the Great Wall along the border of northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Gansu province, dispelling a common belief that there were no sections of the wall in this area.

The remains, nine sections with a total length of more than 10 km, are believed to be part of the Great Wall built during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC), according to Zhou Xinghua, former curator of the Museum of Ningxia Hui autonomous region and a Great Wall expert.

The findings, made in March and April by Zhou and other researchers, give historians fresh insight into where the wall was built. "Finally, we're able to see the whole picture of the Qin Great Wall," said Zhou.

Among the ruins, six sections, constructed with stones or loess, stretch about 10 km between Nanchangtan Village of Ningxia and Jingyuan County of Gansu on the southern bank of the Yellow River. Because of flooding and natural degradation, the height of these sections of the Great Wall has been reduced to one to five meters.

The other three loess-made sections are located in Damiao region of Jingyuan County. They are 50 meters long in total and five meters high.

To prevent foreign invaders from crossing the Yellow River when it was frozen, the Qin state, which defeated other powers during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and later established the Qin Dynasty, built fortifications along the valley beside the river, according to Zhou.

The Great Wall was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The central government spent more than 500 million yuan (about 81.6 million U.S. dollars) on protecting the wall during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010).
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Reference:

China Daily. 2015. “Newly-discovered remains redraw path of Great Wall”. China Daily. Posted: April 15, 2015. Available online: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-04/15/content_20441162.htm